Textile fiber drafting mechanisms



April 26, 1960 J. NOGUERA TEXTILE FIBER DRAFTING MECHANISMS Filed June6, 1958 2333573 TEXTILE FIBER DRAFTlNG MECHANISMS Joseph Noguera,London, England, assignor to Casablancas High Draft Company Limited,Manchester, England, a British company Application June 6, 1958-, SerialNo. 740,414

Claims priority, application Great Britain July 30 1957 'This inventionrelates to textile fibre drafting mechanisms of the type employingconsecutive bottom rollers having necks supported by bearings in rollerstands and co-operating dual-boss top rollers which are centrallysupported by top arms overhanging the drafting field. "-A main object ofthe invention is to provide for the effective lubrication and protectionof the stand bearings and bottom roller necks in such mechanisms inorder to maintain these-parts in efficient operational order for longrunning periods.

' Accordingly the invention provides, in a textile fibre draftingmechanism of the type specified, a roller stand L cover supported onamounting at the rear of the mechanism and arranged to overhang and forma protective shield o'verthe stand bearings and bottom roller necks,

when engaged in said bearings, said cover incorporating 'one or morelubricant absorbent pads arranged to make light contact with the rollernecks so as to be capable of transferring lubricant to said necks andalso performing a scavenging action thereon whilst the necksare-rotating in their bearings;

The invention further provides, for use in a textile fibre draftingmechanism of the type specified,- a roller stand cover adapted forpivotal mounting on a rear support on the mechanism and arranged tooverhang and form a protective shield over the stand bearings and bottomroller necks, when engaged in} said bearings, said cover incorporatingat least one loosely carriedlubricant absorbent pad arranged to makelight. contact with; at least one underlying roller neckso as totransfer lubnicant to the said neck and also perform a scavengingPatented Apr. 26, 1969 ing field from a rear mounting. The manner ofmounting the dual-boss top rollers is well known and forms no part ofthe present invention.

For the purpose of lubricating and protecting the stand bearings 4, 5and 6 and supported bottom roller necks 1a, 2a and 3a, there is provideda roller stand cover 11 which incorporates lubricant absorbent pads 12and 13. The cover 11 is in the form of an inverted open ended channelmember and is arranged to overhang the standbea-rings and supportedbottom roller necks in the fore and aft direction of the drafting field.

To mount the cover 11, a bracket 14 is arranged to.

upstand from a slideway 7a at the rear end of the stand and is locatedthereon by means of a bolt 15. The bracket 14 is also transverselyapertured at 16 for keyed engagement with a bar (not shown) whichextends along the rear of the mechanism with its axis substantiallyparallel to the axes of the drafting rollers. This bar 'may be providedwith a flat at the top on whichbear two set screws 17 which are passedthrough apertures in shoulders 14a provided one on each side of thebracket 14 just below the upper end 14b thereof. The upper end 1412 ofthe bracket is shaped as shown'to enter between the channel side wallsat the rear end of the cover and is 25 transversely tapped to receive apivot screw 18. For the purpose of engaging this screw 18, each sidewall of the cover 11 is provided with a downwardly opening slot 11awhereby the cover can be releasably hooked at the rear end onto thescrew 18 and can be pivoted about the screw axis between a loweredoperative position shown in full lines and a raised inoperative position7 shown in chain dots.

At the forward end, the cover is provided with an L- shaped closureplate 19 having onev arm which underlies the top cover wall and a secondarm which closes off the front of the cover and depends therebelow toabut the top front end of the stand bearing as shown.

The width of the cover 11 between the dependent side Walls is somewhatless than the axial length of the supported roller necks and the freemarginal edges 11b, of the cover side walls are outwardly flared toprovide the ;necessary additional width for covering the aforesaid necksand underlying bearings.

.lubricating pads 12 and 13 which are approximately action thereonwhilst the neck is rotating in its bearings.'

Figure 2 is a view of the roller stand and cover shown in Figure 1,taken in the direction of arrow A, and

Figure 3 is a detail section taken onthe line III-III of Figure 1.

Referring now to the drawings, the invention is ill lustrated in itsapplication to a conventional roller drafting mechanism having threeconsecutive lines of top and bottom co-operating drafting rollers. Thebottom drafting rollers 1, 2 and 3 are provided with necks 1a, 2a and 3awhich are supported by bearings 4, 5 and 6 car: ried in a roller stand 7in known manner. The top drafting rollers 8, 9 and 10, which can be seenin the background of Figure 1, are of the well-known dual-boss type andare carried from centre necks (notshown) by a top arm (also not shown)which overhangs the draft- Located between the cover walls so as toproject below'the outwardly flared edges of the latter are the twoaligned one behind the other and arranged to contact the underlyingroller necks as shown. Each of these pads 12 and 13 is of elongatedsubstantially rectangular section and is conveniently made from a firmfelt material capable of absorbing a quantity of lubricant, the pad 12,which bears on rollers necks 1a and 2a, being slightly longer than thepad 13 which bears only on the roller neck 3a. The pads could, ofcourse, be made of any other material having similar absorbentproperties, and

' more than two pads may be provided.

Each pad is strengthened along each side by rigid plates 20, 21 whichextend over the whole pad length and from the upper pad side edges overapproximately twothirds of the pad depth, so that the lower part of thepad is left unsupported for making light contact with the roller necksas aforesaid. The pad side plates 20 and 21 are conveniently riveted inposition by rivets which pass transversely through the pads and areprovided with U- shapes slots 20a, 21a which open through the plate endedges. The pads are cut away opposite the plate slots 20a and 21a andare connected together by a felt or like bridging piece 22, oppositeends of which are secured to the tops of the respective pads, thebridging piece 22 then forming a slack link between the adjoining padends.

For the purpose of locating the connected pads within slot to allow forsuch adjustment.

cant than the others.

the cover, each side wall of the latter is provided, for each pad, withtwo inwardly projecting screws 23. The di-- ameters of the screwsare,.however, considerably smaller than the width of the U-slots 26a,21a in which the screws engage, so that the pads are free to float inthe cover, the arrangement being such that the pads will normally reston the roller necks under their own weight, the screws then beinglocated in intermediate positionsin the slots.

The stand cover 11 is conveniently also arranged to carry clearersupports 24 which are bolted at 25 to the top of the cover. To receivethe bolt 25 for the front clearer support, the top of the cover isprovided with a circular hole, the bolt being entered therethrough fromthe top and engaged with a nut within the cover. This bolt may also bearranged to secure the L-shaped front closure plate 19 in position. Toreceive the bolt for the second clearer support,.which may requireadjustment in the fore and aft direction of the drafting field, the

top of the cover is preferably provided with an elongated A part of thisslot willnormally remain exposed when the second clearer support is inposition so that additional lubricant can, if desired, be suppliedtherethrough to the pads without lifting the cover. The clearer supports24 are, of course, designed to support end pivots 26 on clearers 27.

With the arrangement as described, the stand cover 11 will provide ashield over the stand bearings and supported roller necks to protectthese parts against dirt and loose fibre. At the same time the rollernecks can be maintained constantly and adequately lubricated for longrunning periods owing to the large lubricant reservoir created by thepads. The felt connection between the pads will also ensure thatlubricant is supplied'to all the y adapted for pivotal mounting on arear support on the mechanism and arranged to overhang and form aprotective shield over the stand bearings and bottom roller necks, whenengaged in said bearings, said cover incorporating at least one looselycarried lubricant absorbent pad arranged to make light contact with atleast one underlying roller neck so as to transfer lubricant to the saidneck and also perform a scavenging action thereon while the neck isrotating in its bearings.

2. In a textile fibre drafting mechanism havingconsecutive driven bottomrollers with neck parts supported by bearings on a roller stand, thecombination of an inverted channel-section stand cover which extendsover said roller necks and stand hearings to form a protective shieldtherefor and at least one lubricant absorbent pad at the rear end of thecover for detachably engaging said mounting.

4. The combination as claimed in claim 2 in which said channel sectionstand cover has outwardly flared free marginal edges to increase thecoverage area.

5. The combination as claimed in claim 2 in which at least twolubricantabsorbent pads serving different roller necks are provided onebehind the other between the roller necks until the whole supply runsout irrespective of whether one particular roller neck takes up morelubri- The additional scavenging action which the pads will perform onthe roller necks clears away any fibres which might tend to accumulatedespite the protective shield.

With the manner of pad mounting described, it is, of course, a verysimple matter to remove, a pad merely by lifting the cover andwithdrawing the supporting screws at one end of the pad, whereupon thelatter is free to fall away from the cover.

I claim: 7

1. For use in a textile fiber drafting mechanism having consecutivedriven bottom rollers with neck parts supported by bearings on a rollerstand, a roller stand cover cover side walls and a lubricant absorbentbridging piece forms a slack connecting linkbetween said pads.

6. The combination as claimed in claim 5 in which the pads. are ofsubstantially rectangular section and each has rigid strengthening sideplates which are inset from the lower pad surfaces and are formed withU-slots opening through the plate end edges loosely to engage inwardlyprojecting pins on the channel cover side walls.

'7. The combination as claimed in claim 2 further including clearersupports secured one behind the otherto the top of saidrcover and afront cover closure plate which projects below the cover side walls toact as a stop against the forward end of the roller stand.

Abernethy Apr. 21, 1953 Cotchett Oct. 28, 1958

